Discusses why communications studies are not well poised to deal with some of the issues of the new information order that is emerging or to have an impact on it. Identifies some issues and trends for the future. (SR)

Voice programing for preschool children with communication disabilities is discussed, including suggestions for enriching the child's auditory environment, selecting target goals, and providing consistency of target presentations by caregivers. Sample vocal awareness and production goals and strategies are offered. (Author/DB)

In 24 third and sixth grade classrooms, 78 percent of instructional time involved quiet work or teacher talking, whereas 1 percent involved brainstorming, discussion, oral problem solving, and role playing combined. Talk structures were affected by subject and teacher sex but not by grade or teacher experience. Contains 71 references. (Author/SV)

Twelve autistic children (ages 4-6) were given a choice between their mothers' speech and the noise of superimposed voices. In contrast to comparison groups of mentally retarded and normally developing children, the autistic children actively preferred the superimposed voices or showed a lack of preference for either audio segment. (Author/JDD)

To combat the marginal nature of continuing education programs, continuing educators can use four strategies: (1) clear and consistent demonstration of competence; (2) adaptation to changing institutional priorities; (3) collegial relations; and (4) oral communication. (SK)

Three case examples illustrate a developmental framework of intervention techniques to remediate speech intelligibility for students with Down syndrome. The techniques address deficits in the processing of sequential information and focus on reduced hearing acuity and limited oral-motor control. (Author/JDD)

To address concerns that college students do not develop adequate oral communication skills, guidelines are offered to faculty for designing oral presentation assignments within their courses, developing grading criteria, guiding students in their preparation for speaking, and addressing some of the unique challenges of this process, which include…

Scrutinizes an academic lecture in the subsequent question and answer period in order to decompose the speech roles associated with this speech event and to increase understanding of the factors influencing the participants and the event in order to design a useful framework for language teaching. (14 references) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse for…

A study involving 32 children with language delays investigated the effectiveness of Dialogic Reading, an interactive language-facilitation technique. After adult instruction in Dialogic Reading, children spoke more, made longer utterances, produced more words, and participated more in shared book reading. No differences were found in vocabulary…

Offers an overview of three broad areas studied by European researchers of business communication, focusing on the first area: the language and discourse of business events. Includes addresses for pertinent Web sites and contact information about conferences as well as research and teaching projects. (SR)

Focuses on "stress-timing" in language rhythm, in which there are approximately equal intervals of time between stressed syllables. Discusses English as stress-timed, a belief established in pedagogical descriptions of English pronunciation, taught in teacher-training courses, and used as the basis for pronunciation exercises. Suggests that a…

An evaluation of 3,469 infants at risk found that of those who showed late onset of canonical babbling, fewer than half had been diagnosed with a medical problem accounting for the delay. A follow-up study found those with delayed canonical babbling had smaller vocabularies at 18, 24, and 30 months. (Author/CR)

Examined meaning of interruptions in conversations of 56 adolescent girls conversing with their mothers or same-gender friends. Found that girls used more confirming interruptions and rejecting simultaneous speech than mothers. Functions of interruptions and simultaneous speech were the same with mothers and friends. Results suggest that increased…

The ability of 10 adults with mental retardation to exhibit linguistic control within peer and staff dyads was evaluated. Participants produced significantly more utterances with staff than with peers; however, they did not exhibit significant amounts of directives or questions, the two types of verbal control bids studied. (Author/CR)

Discusses several methods the author uses to overcome students' negative attitudes about working in small groups. Discusses preliminary activities (including a class discussion and direct instruction). Describes the group assignment, including a general overview, specifics of the assignment, and ways to overcome common group work problems. (SR)